In a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) solar material streaks out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path. They are sometimes associated with flares, but usually occur independently. (Photo: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)

A coronal hole on the sun, seen here in dark blue, is an area of the sun's atmosphere, the corona, where the magnetic field opens up and the material flows quickly out. (Photo: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)

The sun erupting with a CME traveling at over 900 miles per second. (Photo: ESA & NASA/SOHO)

Night lights from the International Space Station show cities of Ireland and the United Kingdom in the foreground contrasted by the bright sunrise in the background. The greens and purples of the Aurora Borealis are seen along the rest of the horizon.

Loops, flares and eruptions on particularly active day on the sun. (Credit: NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory)